A Cafe Meeting
by Drama-freakz
Summary: Rangiku Matsumoto works at a small cafe called "Cat's Cafe", the cafe is a frequently visited store by a Gin Ichimaru. Although their first meeting was a bit turbulent could this cafe start a summer romance? Rated T for safety and Gin being Gin.
1. Chapter 1

Grumbling to herself she tied the apron around her waist. Frowning she tied it uncomfortably tight around her waist, she looked and felt as if she had gained some weight around her waist after school had let out. She was no longer in track and field and no longer working out because of all the time she spent at work. She had also quit gymnastics after she realized her figure got to much in the way.

Looking up she realized her manager would be much better at the sport of gymnastics than her, Miss Soi Fong was small and had a rather boyish figure. As well as that Rangiku believed that she would most likely be fairly flexible.

Shaking out of her pointless train of thought she moved from the staff room and out into the café pushing the door open with her rump. The café was small, a normal size around these parts of town. The door was wooden and placed near the right side of the front of the café, this was followed by three booths with wooden tables and red velvet-looking seats. On the other side of the café there were four other booths, a few feet from those there were three wooden tables with matching carved wooden chairs each with matching seat covers, that matched those on the booths. This to Rangiku was home. Or part of her home. Along the wooden flooring that covered the ground there was a single golden painted metal strip that ran the entire width of the café, separating the wooden floor of the actual customer's café, from the tile of the kitchen and staff half of the room.

"Matsumoto," Miss Soi Fong began, "I need to run out for a couple errands, Kira said we're running out of some supplies in the kitchen. After that I have a meeting down town." Rangiku nodded as Miss Soi Fong untied her apron and handed it to the strawberry blonde girl that was watching her.

"Alright, who's in charge then?" Rangiku asked beginning to make her way back into the staff room to put Miss Soi Fong's apron away.

"I'll put you in charge. Is that alright? I'll be gone most of the day but I should be back for closing and even before the dinner rush. But you're the only one I can trust. You can handle it can't you?" Rangiku smiled and kissed Miss Soi Fong lightly on the cheek,

"You know it!" Miss Soi Fong blushed as she did every time Rangiku kissed her

"Good, I'll be back then." Soi Fong nodded and began making her way out the door, switching the "Closed" sign to "Open" Rangiku grinned and watched as several people began waltzing in as if they were the owners of the place, taking the time to glance around at the décor before they stepped up to the front desk to get a table.

The first man to step up to the counter was a relatively good looking man, he looked several years older than Rangiku, probably more around the age of her father. He had dark brown hair and an unshaved chin. On his arm was a fairly young looking girl, quite a few years younger than him, she had black hair pulled up into a clip and had several stands wrapped around her face. She also had a pair of thick black glasses that shielded her brown eyes.

"Table for two!" The man sang. The black haired girl frowned at his tone of voice.

"Right this way!" Rangiku smiled, "I'll be right with you!" She added towards the remainder of the group waiting in line.

"Take you're time sweet heart." A cocky silver haired man smiled

"Thank you, Sir." Rangiku called back with a sigh, people were always so cocky towards her, so flirty and outgoing. "Here's your table you two."

"Thank you my dear!" The brunette smiled and pulled out a chair for the black haired girl before sitting down himself.

"I'll be right with you to take your order, but here are some menus please take your time!" With that Rangiku walked back to the position as hostess and began sitting more people.

After several groups had been seated a group of three men stood in front of her, one was the good looking silver haired man with the squinted eyes and large smile from before. Next to him was a tall brunette with his hair slicked back and one lock of hair hanging out in the front. And on the other side of that man, was an African American man with long braided hair and a dark look on his face, probably because of the wait the three had to survive before they could receive their table.

"Hello! Welcome to Cat's Café." Rangiku smiled, "Allow me to show you to your table!"

"I'd let you show me anything, sweet cheeks!" The silver haired man smirked and followed her over to a window seat and sat down.

"Umm…here are your menus I'll be back in a few moments to take your order.

"Thanks babe." The man winked again and as Rangiku turned to walk back to the counter he promptly smacked her behind.

"Ichimaru!" The one with braided hair snapped.

"Sorry, sorry!" he grinned, Rangiku huffed and returned to her desk thoroughly embarrassed.


	2. Chapter 2

Matsumoto knew she shouldn't pay much attention to the man before, Ichimaru, his friends called him. But there was something about him that unnerved her. Perhaps it was the grin. No the grin was the same on all men like that. Perhaps the way he held himself? No. Cocky and in charge, yet again another strong male trait she saw quite often. Maybe it was the openness. No, too many people were that open towards her.

All of these thoughts clouded her mind as she stepped down through an empty alleyway on the way back to her apartment. He was different and she could tell. The only thing left to figure out what made him so different? What caused him to stick in her mind?

The ideas gnawed at the edges of her brain as she tightened her jacket around herself. Just then a large group of men walked into the light produced by the street lamp barely thirty feet away from her. One of them chuckled. Her heart flew into her throat, she didn't recognize the men but she recognized the type. Tall, large, ripped clothes, a bag of heaven knows what slung over their shoulders, the devils grin. They were the bad men she was always warned about. The type of men that only did horrible things to women alone, at night, with huge breasts, and no means to protect herself.

Matsumoto bit her lip and turned to walk the other way. Back to the café. Back to safety. Much to her dismay the men already had seen her and noticed how attractive she appeared.

"Hey baby!" One shouted. Matsumoto didn't respond and simply quickened her pace to a run. The men's footsteps increased as they grew closer and they went faster towards fresh prey.

"What you runnin' from?" Another demanded several put in snarky remarks of agreement.

Matsumoto drew in a breath as a firm grip snagged her wrist. She flipped around and placed a high-heel promptly into her capture's down unders. He sucked in a deep breath and staggered back but his warm, tobacco scented presence was quickly replaced by two more. She screamed but was cut off by a heavy hand pressed to her mouth. She attempted to bite it but the flesh tasted dirty, grimy, and bloody under her teeth. She quickly yanked her head backwards. Tears streamed down her face and her heart beat strongly against her chest.

In pure horror she felt her belongings ripped away from her and tumble to the floor. She fought against the strength of the men. Pushing past them, kicking, slapping, punching, biting, attacking anyone that stood to close. But it was all in vain.

The men forced her against a wall. Her face was bloodied, her palms, brow, and neck were thoroughly coated with sweat and goose bumps; her eyes were wide and horrified; her body moved in quick spasms of shivers and attempts to break through the group of men. They chortled and spat profanity at her. The men ran their fingers and tongues across her face and neck. She shoved and fought but her arms were always forced back to her sides.

Matsumoto sobbed as she felt her jacket being ripped away from her, the cool winter air bombarding her bare arms. One man stripped off her gloves and another attempted to use her scarf as some sort of leash.

"Get off!" Matsumoto managed shoving once again, to yet again be forced against the wall and subjected to more harassment.

"The lady said get." A loud familiar voice boomed. Matsumoto looked around through tear filled eyes to see her savior. A tall shadow filled the alley as a man casually walked towards the men.

"What are you gonna do about it?" The man Matsumoto had kicked down below demanded. The savior reached one fist up simply and ran it across his face. The blow was loud and sickening but he didn't stop then. He snatched up the evil man and began slamming his fist repeatedly into his face.

Each blow was accepted by a squeal or a shriek from the savior's hostage. Matsumoto gasped as the figure collapsed with one final crunch of his mutilated face.

"You son of a-" one of the men holding Matsumoto shouted but was quickly cut off by a thick kick to the face. He staggered back into Matsumoto and she kicked him back towards the other man with glee.

"You little bitch!" One of the men growled at Matsumoto. She didn't bother with him as she pushed off the remaining men that held her and began making her way down the street at a full sprint.

"Keep runnin!" The familiar voice called after her. She stopped, she recognized the voice. It was the costumer from the café. She flipped around and snatched a large metal pole from a garbage bin close by. Matsumoto kicked off her high-heels and began running back into the fray.

In a flurry of limbs, weapons, and cursing the group of men were taken out. It only left Matsumoto and Ichimaru standing, panting in the alleyway.

"You best be headin' home." Ichimaru told her.

"Yeah." Matsumoto nodded attempting to catch her breath. "Just lemme get my stuff." She muttered and began walking to where she dropped all of her items and where she had lost her jacket. "Thank you." She finally said. Ichimaru shrugged,

"I couldn't have anythin' bad happening to someone. Not like that." Matsumoto nodded again. He eyes darted over the man, he was gorgeous. It might just have been her delirious exhaustion but this man that had saved her was almost god-like in how beautiful he was. But there was one flaw, his right arm held a heavy gash in it that trailed from his shoulder to his elbow.

"You're hurt!" Matsumoto exclaimed Ichimaru looked down at his arm.

"Would yah look at that." He mused and prodded at the open wound. Matsumoto rushed forward and grabbed his arm in her hands.

"I can't leave you like this." She told him glancing up into his eyes. "I just can't." Ichimaru rolled his shoulder and removed his arm from Matsumoto's fingers.

"You can and you will." He said turning her away from him.

"No." She said bluntly, "My house is just a few minutes walk away, we can go there and I'll take care of it." She blurted. Ichimaru sighed but allowed himself to be dragged by the still-barefoot woman.

"This will be your thank you." Matsumoto told him as-a-matter-of-factly. Ichimaru chuckled.

"We'll see." He smirked and walked in step with Matsumoto as they headed to her home. "How far away did you say it was?" Ichimaru asked

"Just about five minutes now. Can you hold on that long?" She questioned.

"Ah think I'm fine." Ichimaru told her.

A silence broke over the two as they walked down the nearly abandoned streets leading to Matsumoto's apartment. Ichimaru coughed a few times and Matsumoto began humming multiple different songs as well.

"Almost there now." Matsumoto announced her voice in a singsong tune regardless of her previous occurrence.

"Good. Ah'm feelin' light headed." Ichimaru muttered under his breath as he leaned heavily on Matsumoto for support. She wrapped an arm around his waist and he her shoulders.

"Here we are." She said and walked up to a small apartment complex.

"What floor are yah?" Ichimaru demanded.

"Two." Matsumoto responded with a hint of worry in her voice, "Can you do that?" She asked,

"I think I'll handle it." He told her and the two began making their way up the stairs. They got to the room and Matsumoto opened it with a key hiding in a crevice in the door jam.

"Clever." Ichimaru commented,

"Just don't try breaking in." She murmured, Ichimaru laughed,

"Promise."

Matsumoto flicked on the lights and the two made their way into the room. It wasn't very expensively furnished, a couch and a small T.V. were pushed into the corner of one half and a kitchen was jammed into the other side. A sharp staircase lead into the bedrooms only a bit above them.

The strawberry blond lead the taller man onto the couch, made sure he was comfortable then moved into the other room to fetch a wet cloth and some medical supplies. Ichimaru looked around the room, several well posed pictures lined the walls, curiosity filled through his mind,

"Are you a model?" He asked, Matsumoto paused,

"I used to be." She called back. He raised an eyebrow,

"Why not anymore?" He questioned, Matsumoto reappeared with a small red box.

"It didn't interest me." She told him and grabbed for his arm so she could begin working on the repairs.

"Well you were good at it." Ichimaru informed her and then flinched as she rolled back his sleeves only to about half of the length of the wound. She blushed,

"I hate to ask you to do this, but I'm going to need you to take your shirt off." Ichimaru moaned internally but still stripped off the blood soaked fabric and placed it across his lap. Matsumoto nearly gasped at the toned muscles before her. She would have never guessed if she hadn't seen him in that street fight not to long ago.

"Well thank you." Matsumoto continued their previous conversation as she turned her attention back to the wound.

"Well, what do you like now?" Ichimaru insisted cringing and letting a yelp pierce his lips as she sprayed disinfectant across the gouge. She chuckled,

"I'm a people person." She told him, "I wanted to work with people so I got a job at the café." Ichimaru nodded and shot her a quick glance,

"Those people certainly liked you." He told her, not sure himself whether he was scolding her or teasing her. Matsumoto nodded,

"A little to much." She whispered,

"A little?" Gin asked. Matsumoto shot him an irritated look.

"A lot." She corrected.

"You know you're pretty when you're embarrassed." Ichimaru suddenly said as Matsumoto reached for a roll of gauze to attempt to fix his cut. She paused slightly, her fingers danced across the gauze and Ichimaru looked at her with focused eyes.

"Thank you." Matsumoto finally said before continuing to pick up the medical supplies and place it directly under his arm. She began wrapping, but to be honest she knew she was taking in the sights and smells that were laid in front of her.

"Your welcome." Ichimaru told her. "You know I don't say that to everyone." Matsumoto snorted,

"Yeah?" She pried not taking her eyes off of the cut.

"Yep."

"I feel so honored." She lied,

"You should." Ichimaru smiled down at her. She attempted not to look but here eyes were automatically pulled up to Ichimaru's flawless face and his smile ensnared her in wonder. Her stomach tightened and butterflies flew up into her throat.

"Good." Matsumoto sighed finally being able to contain herself enough to pull herself from her thoughts about Ichimaru.

"I never caught your full name." Ichimaru spoke up once again.

"Matsumoto Rangiku." She told him, "What about yourself."

"Gin Ichimaru." He told her.

"So your names Gin." She muttered,

"Yep."

"Well Gin I can tell you that you look pretty attractive yourself when fighting off a band of rabid rapists." Ichimaru smiled,

"Thanks sweet cheeks." Matsumoto finished tying off the gauze then. Gin was about to stand up when Matsumoto grabbed his hand.

"Why don't you stay here?" She asked, he raised an eyebrow. "Just for the night?"

"Why?" He questioned, not that he had anything against the idea.

"I just don't want you to be all alone out there with that much blood loss and that many people out for your hide." Ichimaru smirked and ruffled the blonde's hair.

"Where would I sleep?" He demanded,

"On the couch, or…or I could sleep on the couch and you could call the bed." Matsumoto said frantically wanting Ichimaru to stay as long as possible.

"Alright kiddo." He smirked, "I'll stay on the couch." Matsumoto smiled,

"Good." She stood and pulled a lock of hair out of her face. "I'll go get you some sheets and something to change into." Ichimaru smiled and Matsumoto walked out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

When Matsumoto settled in for the night she had certainly not forgotten her wounded and devilishly handsome guest staying just bellow her in the living room. She tried to be as quite as possible whenever she got up to use the rest room or get a glass of water but the truth is when every floor board creaked that was relatively hard to do.

Matsumoto settled back down on her bed after a quick trip to the bathroom to take a drink of water. The springs creaked under the sudden weight and she laid her head up against the pillow. Although she closed her eyes she couldn't sleep. So many thoughts ran through her mind at the time. What would become of the man? What should she do when she woke up the next morning? Why had he saved her? What would those men have done to her if he wasn't there at the right time?

A red blush streaked across her face and she rubbed a hand over her brow in irritation. Ichimaru was still down stairs, asleep most likely. She wanted oh so badly to sneak down the stairs for just a single glance at him but she couldn't bring herself to do such a thing. She couldn't steal looks of the man that saved her life more so than she already had. It seemed almost disrespectful in some sort.

Blowing of the thought Matsumoto rolled over again and again before she finally kicked off her sheets in frustration. Cold seeped over her but she just laid flat on her stomach and contemplated what she would do.

She could sneak down stairs and run back up stairs before he even noticed. She could trip down the stairs and hurt herself like she had done many times before, this would leave her waking Ichimaru up and making her self look like a idiot without an excuse to go down there. Or perhaps she could just look from the top of the stairs and see if he was asleep of not.

Option three sounded like her best bet. Crawling on her hands and knees Matsumoto made it out of her bed with only a bit of creaking of the floor and the springs in her bed. She opened the door with a struggled reach upward and was caught by a tall man standing right out side her door. She gasped and stood up, the man was Ichimaru!

He ruffled the back of his hair insecurely and glanced at her with confusion.

"I was just going to see if you were awake." Matsumoto smiled,

"Me too." Ichimaru sighed, "Well…" He shuffled his feet awkwardly and looked Matsumoto over.

Standing in front of one another like that Matsumoto realized that she was about the height of his shoulders and his arms were still much longer and more toned then hers. He had an odd way of showing his being uncomfortable. Matsumoto chuckled at how open he was about not knowing what to say.

"Soo…" Matsumoto muttered just as uncomfortable as her guest standing in front of her, "What are you up to this fine evening?" Ichimaru chuckled,

"No much." He admitted. She nodded and felt unsure of what to do next.

"I'll make some coffee if you want, it is nearly 5 anyways." Ichimaru nodded and Matsumoto lead the way back down the stairs.

Once the two had a fresh cup of coffee in their hands they brought themselves to sit on the couch, which had previously been Ichimaru's sleeping area. The smell of Ichimaru still radiated from the sheets and a large blush felt like it was spreading across Matsumoto's face.

"So what do you do?" She asked after a bit of a silence.

"Oh, I'm business partners with the two guy's yah saw." Ichimaru began, "We've been trying to sell weapon designs to countries and armies and places of that sort. Keep getting shot down, not literally but you get the idea."

"What kind of weapons?" Matsumoto asked suddenly intrigued even further in this man.

"All kinds. Guns, shotgun, rifles, machine guns, grenades, things like that." Ichimaru looked over at Matsumoto and pressed his cup to his lips. "Yer probably not all that interested in it are you?" He asked, Matsumoto shrugged,

"I like guns. I might look like a girly girl, but I can shoot just as good as any guy, and know what I'm shooting." Matsumoto sent a wink in Ichimaru's direction. He raised an eyebrow and ruffled her hair playfully with his good arm.

"You got work today?" Ichimaru asked as he took another sip of his coffee,

"Nah." Matsumoto shrugged, "Well not until like 12 that is." Ichimaru smiled this time.

"Well, why don't we go grab some breakfast?" Ichimaru asked,

"While I'm dressed like this?" She demanded,

"Why not?" He asked smiling. "Well, I should probably change." He noted his blood stained clothes.

"Yeah, I'll go get you some clothes." Matsumoto stood up quickly and walked up the stairs and into her bed room where she might be able to scavenge up some clothes that would fit Ichimaru.

"Findin' anything?" Ichimaru asked from behind her. Matsumoto shrieked at his sudden appearance. "Sorry." He chuckled.

"Yeah," Matsumoto grumbled under her breath and went back over to Ichimaru and handed him a pair of pants and a shirt that she had gotten from her Father when he came to visit and never reclaimed the cloths he left in her closet.

Ichimaru smiled and went into the bathroom to change.

"You should probably bathe. Blood isn't a very attractive smell."

"Way ahead of you." Ichimaru called through the door as he flicked on the shower. Matsumoto smiled and went to find clothes of her own.

She changed quickly, before Ichimaru could finish bathing. When he left the bathroom his hair was wet and dripping and he was running a towel over his hair.

"When we leavin?" He asked,

"I suppose now." Matsumoto sighed and allowed Ichimaru to follow her as she headed for the door.

"Where are we eating?" Matsumoto asked, Ichimaru smiled and grabbed her hand.

"You'll see." The tall silver hair man smiled and brought Matsumoto closer to him.

_**Not very long! I'm sorry! Except a new chapter explaining the date! Been really busy, but I know…it's been…a long time…I'M SORRY!**_


End file.
